Tim Allison, adjunct professor of political science at CSU Channel Islands, said Proposition 64's approval means local elected officials are working to figure out if and how the new law should be embraced.

Proposition 64 allows adults over 21 to possess and use marijuana for recreational purposes. It also allows adults to cultivate up to six plants at their home for personal use.

In this April 21, 2018, file photo, a bud tender displays a jar of cannabis at the High Times 420 SoCal Cannabis Cup in San Bernardino.(Photo: AP PHOTO)

"The voters have said what they wanted to say," Allison said. Although, its future in the state may be uncertain given its current federal status as an illegal drug, he said.

On the other hand, elected officials' next step in taxing these businesses is pretty much a no-brainer, Allison said.

The marijuana industry is a growing enterprise and could be a chance to "fill the city coffers," Allison said.

Measure G in Oxnard, Measure P in Thousand Oaks and Measure Q in Simi Valley each call for the same tax rates. That includes up to $10 per canopy square foot for cultivation, 6 percent of gross receipts for retail cannabis businesses and 4 percent for all other cannabis businesses.

Measure N in Santa Paula is asking voters for a higher maximum tax rate of up to $25 per square foot for cultivation with 10 percent of gross receipts from the sale of cannabis and related products. It could generate $500,000 a year.

In Oxnard, the tax was estimated to bring in $1.2 million to $2.5 million annually. The annual revenue was estimated to be much lower in Thousand Oaks at $130,000 to $150,000. The measure submitted by Simi Valley had an unknown estimated amount of revenue.

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With the nation’s multibillion-dollar marijuana industry beginning to flower, the commercial cannabis industry is pushing hard to dispel the idea everyone who tokes up these days is a stumbling slacker living on their parents’ couch. (Aug. 29)
AP

Thousand Oaks is the only city asking for tax revenue that actually has plans for marijuana-related business. In November 2017, the Thousand Oaks City Council approved a lengthy process to choose an operator for a medical marijuana dispensary and a marijuana testing facility.

The application for the facility fell through but in July the council chose Legendary Organics to operate the dispensary.

Oxnard, Santa Paula and Simi Valley do not currently allow medical or recreational pot but those conversations may be changing.

At an Oct. 2 Oxnard City Council meeting, city staff were directed to conduct research on land use and permitting of marijuana operations. The meeting signaled a shift from the strict ban on marijuana businesses aside from the personal use allowed under state law and medical pot deliveries.

Like Oxnard, city staff in Simi did some research about marijuana and how other communities were regulating it. It brought them to put Measures Q, R and S onto the ballot, said Samantha Argabrite, the city's deputy city manager.

Measure Q was a preemptive move because a proposed state regulation by the state Bureau of Cannabis Control would authorize marijuana deliveries throughout the state regardless of local regulations or bans. And it looks like the state regulation is going to be adopted, Argabrite said.

Marijuana business owners, lawyers and members of the public line up to comment before the state Bureau of Cannabis Control on proposed changes to the nation's largest legal pot market in Los Angeles on Tuesday. Most of the remarks were complaints and concerns, on issues from a shaky supply chain to testing problems.(Photo: AP PHOTO)

"It would be an opportunity for the city to collect revenue if the state overrules us," she said.

But Measures R and S have a slightly different purpose.

The results of those measures won't have any bearing on city laws but are instead advisory questions or a "temperature check" used to gauge how citizens are feeling about marijuana, Argabrite said.

Measure R asks voters if the City Council should allow marijuana-related businesses such as cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, testing facilities and deliveries to operate in the city. Measure S asks one questions further: If the city allows these businesses, should they operate only in the city's Sexually-Oriented Business Overlay Zone?

This zone is on the western edge of the city and was zoned for businesses like strip clubs that would be away from other sensitive buildings such as schools and churches. However, there currently aren't any businesses like that in the area, Argabrite said.

Allison, the political science professor, said he's surprised more cities aren't using the advisory questions. He said marijuana is a "touchy issue" and any decision is likely to upset people on all sides.

"You have probably a broader audience when you have it submitted to the voter this way," Argabrite said.